Richie Barnett (born 21 April 1971) is a New Zealand former professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. A New Zealand international representative , he also captained the side during his career, during which he played for clubs in New Zealand, Australia and England. Following his playing career he became a columnist for ''

The New Zealand Herald ''The New Zealand Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, owned by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, and considered a newspaper of record for New Zealand. It has the largest newspaper circulation of all newspapers ...

''. In August 2021, it was announced that he would feature in the 2021 Season of

Celebrity Treasure Island 2021 ''Celebrity Treasure Island 2021'' is the 11th season overall, and the fifth celebrity season of the New Zealand reality-television series ''Treasure Island''. After a break in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the fifth edition of ''Celebrity Tr ...

Playing career

While playing in New Zealand Barnett was selected to play in the 1992 Pacific Cup for the New Zealand Māori side. He joined Sydney club, Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in 1994. The following year Barnett was selected to represent New Zealand at the 1995 World Cup. He was selected for New Zealand in the 1996 Super League World Nines tournament. He was selected to play at fullback for the Kiwis in the

1997 ANZAC Test The 1997 ANZAC test was the first annual Anzac test played between Australia and New Zealand. Conceived by the rebel Super League competition, any players aligned with the Australian Rugby League The Australian Rugby League Commission (A ...

. He also played in the 1997 Super League World Nines. Barnett left the Sharks for cross-town rivals, the Sydney Roosters for the 1998 season. That year he was selected to go on the

1998 New Zealand rugby league tour of Great Britain The 1998 New Zealand rugby league tour of Great Britain was a tour by the New Zealand national rugby league team. The New Zealand national rugby league team defeated Great Britain 2–0 in the three match test series. Background New Zealand arriv ...

and played at fullback in all three Tests, scoring two tries. The following year he was selected for the New Zealand team to compete in the end of season

1999 Rugby League Tri-Nations The 1999 Rugby League Tri-Nations series was contested by Australia, Great Britain and New Zealand in 1999. It was the first multi-national rugby league tournament to feature the sport's three world powers since the 1989–92 World Cup (the 19 ...

tournament. In the final against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

he captained the Kiwis at in their 22–20 loss. Barnett's 2000 season was cut short by a facial fracture he suffered during the

2000 ANZAC Test The 2000 Anzac test was a rugby league test match played between Australia and New Zealand at the Sydney Olympic Stadium 27 April 2000. It was the 4th Anzac test played between the two nations since the first was played under the Super League b ...

. He recovered in time to be selected to captain New Zealand from fullback at the 2000 World Cup. Barnett was succeeded as captain of New Zealand by

Nathan Cayless Nathan Frederick Cayless (born 28 March 1978) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s, and has coached in the 2010s. He played at representative level for New Zealand (captain), and ...

. After his NRL career ended, he played for the

London Broncos The London Broncos are a professional rugby league club in London, England. The club competes in the RFL Championship. It was a member of Super League from its inaugural season in 1996 until the end of the 2014 season, when they were relegat ...

in the

Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of wh ...

until 2002, and later

Hull F.C. Hull Football Club, commonly referred to as Hull or Hull F.C., is a professional rugby league football club established in 1865 and based in West Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The club plays in the Super League competition and were ...

( Heritage № 1003) in 2003-04.

Later years

He currently works as a broadcaster for

SKY Network Television Sky Network Television Limited, more commonly known as Sky, is a New Zealand broadcasting company that provides pay television services via satellite television, satellite, media streaming services and broadband internet services. It is also a ...

Health

In the early 21st century, Barnett developed

ME/CFS Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), also called myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) or ME/CFS, is a complex, debilitating, long-term medical condition. The causes and mechanisms of the disease are not fully understood. Distinguishing core symptoms are ...

and has said that the condition was the reason for his retirement. In July 2015, he described himself as 80% recovered. In 2000, he sustained a facial injury during a match and had to have surgery that involved having 10 plates inserted into his skull. He has stated that he would rather go through that surgery again, than live with ME/CFS once more. He is the face of the Associated New Zealand ME Society (ANZMES).

Playing career

Later years

Health

References

External links